With just a month to go before the presidential elections, candidates begin their campaigns in earnest this week with a substantial increase in advertisements to be released, local media reported Wednesday.
As the elections on May 25 edge ever closer, political advertising will begin to circulate on broadcast television and radio in an attempt for the presidential candidates to spread their message and garner more votes.
MORE: Colombia 2014 presidential election candidates
Until now, the five presidential hopefuls have been busy traveling the country, participating in political debates and generally trying to get their message heard. However as of the end of Holy Week, new pieces of political propaganda will begin to circulate over television and radio.
According to the National Electoral Commission, by law, a certain amount of time must be allocated to all candidates on both television and radio for political messages in the build up to an election.
Furthermore, a considerable number of billboards depicting each candidate and their message are to be rolled out across Colombia’s major cities.
Those running in the election will be vying for prime time spots on major networks to try and spread their message to the largest audience possible.
For example, incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos has been in TV commercials and spoken on radio shows in Barranquilla, northern Colombia, since mid-March, an exercise he will soon begin to implement nationwide according to El Espectador newspaper.
The Green Alliance (Alianza Verde – AV) candidate Enrique Peñalosa has released a television commercial depicting his slogan “with Peñalosa we can,” a slogan aiming to increase voter trust and loyalty.
MORE: Peñalosa vows to combat Colombia’s ‘political machines’ if elected president
Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, running with the Democratic Center (Centro Democratico) used more unconventional methods this week, utilizing Easter traffic to put up signs with key words such as “education” and “security” accompanied by his picture along major roads and highways.
MORE: Zuluaga strives to return Colombia from ‘failed state’ to one of ‘confidence’
For Clara Lopez’s campaign, on behalf of the Democratic Pole/Patriotic Union (Polo/Union Patriotica), a new slogan of “the alternative is Clara” fighting for “a country the size of our dreams” has been released nationwide.
MORE: Leftist Clara Lopez seeks to become leader of Colombia’s ‘new majority’
Marta Lucia Ramirez, meanwhile, has gone for a more dramatic campaign with recent radio advertisements carrying the slogan: “We will not be silent. We will end corruption and for every dollar we take from the corrupt we will generate better education and employment. ”
MORE: Conservatives’ Ramirez joins Uribe in opposition to peace talks with FARC
Sources
- Sorteo de espacios de propaganda para las elecciones presidenciales (Consejo Nacional Electoral)
- La fuerza de la propaganda electoral (El Espectador)
- Elecciones 2014 (El Tiempo)
